Blessed were the eyes that truly

Representative Text

Blessed were the eyes that truly
Here on earth beheld the Lord;
Happy were the ears that duly
Listened to His living word.
Which proclaimed the wondrous story
Of God’s mercy, love and glory.

Kings and prophets long with yearning
Prayed to see His day appear;
Angels with desire were burning
To behold the golden year
When God’s light and grace should quicken
All that sin and death had stricken.

He who, light and life revealing,
By His Spirit stills our want;
He, who broken hearts is healing
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By His cup and at the font,
Jesus, Fount of joy incessant,
Is with light and grace now present.

Eyes by sin and darkness blinded
May now see His glory bright;
Hearts perverse and carnal minded
May obtain His Spirit’s light.
When, contrite and sorely yearning,
They in faith to Him are turning.

Blessed are the eyes that truly
Now on earth behold the Lord;
Happy are the ears that duly
Listen to His living word!
When His words our spirits nourish
Shall the kingdom in us flourish.

Author: N. F. S. Grundtvig

Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig was the son of a pastor, and was born at Udby, in Seeland, in 1783. He studied in the University of Copenhagen from 1800-1805; and, like some other eminent men, did not greatly distinguish himself; his mind was too active and his imagination too versatile to bear the restraint of the academic course. After leaving the university he took to teaching; first in Langeland, then (1808) in Copenhagen. Here he devoted his attention to poetry, literature, and Northern antiquities. In 1810 he became assistant to his father in a parish in Jutland. The sermon he preached at his ordination, on the subject "Why has the Lord's word disappeared from His house," attracted much attention, which is rarely the case with "pro… Go to person page >

Translator: J. C. Aaberg

Jens Christian Aaberg (b. Moberg, Denmark, 1877; d. Minneapolis, MN, 1970) immigrated to the United States in 1901. Educated at Grand View College and Seminary in Des Moines, Iowa, he entered the ministry of the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and served congregations in Marinette, Wisconsin; Dwight, Illinois; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Aaberg wrote Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark (1945), translated at least eighty hymns from Danish into English, and served on four hymnal committees. In 1947 King Frederick of Denmark awarded him the Knight Cross of Denmark.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1987
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